From Dracula to Count Chocula, here's the top 25 vampires

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By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star

No doubt about it. Vampires have taken a bite out of popular culture, from books to movies to TV shows to comic books to video games.

We’ve ranked the top 25 bloodsuckers: 

1. Dracula — The title character of Bram Stoker’s novel is by far the most popular vampire, paving the way for all those that have come after him.  

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Actor Bela Lugosi plays the evil Count Dracula in the 1931 movie classic. (AP file photo)

Actor Bela Lugosi plays the evil Count Dracula in the 1931 movie classic. (AP file photo)

2. Angel — A vampire with a soul, Angel first was introduced on Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as Buffy’s first love.

3. Edward Cullen — The current “it” vampire falls for human Bella Swan in Stephenie Meyer’s four-book fantasy/teen romance “Twilight” series. 

4. Lestat — The egotistical, rock-star-like vamp does his own thing and irks his own kind in Anne Rice’s popular “The Vampire Chronicles” series.

5. Blade — The Marvel Comics’ superhero is a half-breed who hunts and destroys vampires.

6. Selene — The main character in the “Underworld” movie series is a vampire hitwoman whose primary duty is to dispatch Lycans (werewolves).

 7. Orlock — Still considered one of the scariest vampires ever, he’s the pointy-eared main character in German filmmaker  F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent pic “Nosferatu.”

 8. Saint-Germain — The vampire is known for heroism rather than his blood lust in 20-some fictional works by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.   

9. Barnabas Collins — Before Angel and Spike, TV’s most famous vampire was the self-loathing Barnabas on the ABC daytime soap “Dark Shadows” (1966-71).

10. Vampire Hunter D — A half-breed, D is the title character in a series of novels (and anime movies) by Japanese author Hideyuki Kikuchi.

11. Count von Count — Debuting on “Sesame Street” in 1972, the purple Muppet has an obsessive need to count anything and everything.

12. Kain — The vampire seeks revenge against his murderers and a cure for his vampiric curse  in the “Legacy of Kain” videogame series introduced in 1996. 

13. Bill —  Vampires and humans co-exist in Charlaine Harris’ “Sookie Stackhouse” book series (and now HBO drama), with Bill as the love interest of the very human and very telepathic Sookie.

14. Spike — The bleached-blond vampire was Buffy’s arch-nemesis before becoming her love interest/soldier-in-arms on the cult TV series.

15. Louis — Lestat eventually becomes the focus, but it’s Louis who is the “interviewee” in Anne Rice’s first novel of “The Vampire Chronicles.”

16. Kurt Barlow  — Horror master Stephen King published “Salem’s Lot” in 1975, with Barlow as the scary and powerful vampire who terrorizes a small Maine town.

17. Blacula — The title character from the 1972 blaxploitation cult classic was an African prince transformed into a vampire by none other than Dracula himself.

18. Count Chocula — Debuting in 1971, the Count was part of General Mills’ monster cereals lineup, with other featured favorites Frankenberry and Boo Berry.

19. David — Before he was Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland played the spiky-blond-haired leader of evil teen vamps in the 1987 film “The Lost Boys.”

20. Lily Munster — Herman’s wife on the long-running TV series “The Munsters” may be the funniest vampire, along with her father, Count “Sam” Dracula.

21. Alucard — Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards, a vampire controlled by the descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, Integra Helsing, in “Helsing” manga and anime series. 

22. Bunnicula — The James Howe creation is a vampire bunny that sucks the juice from veggies in the popular children’s book series.

23. Sita — The 5,000-year-old vampire becomes a modern-day high school student in Christopher Pike’s (a pseudonym of Kevin McFadden) young adult fiction series, “The Last Vampire.”

24. Mick St. John —  The private investigator from the CBS TV series “Moonlight” developed a rabid fan base despite only 16 episodes.

25. Nick Knight — The vampire was a Toronto police detective on the syndicated television series “The Dark Knight,” which, like “Moonlight,” developed a cult following.